Check tearing guide



Oct. 18, 1949.

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CHECK TEARING GUIDE Filed oct. so, 1946 llvlln:

FIGB.

INVENTOR.

I RAY ScHuEssLER Patented ct. 118, 1949- 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,485,415 CHECK TEARING GUIDE L. Ray Sichuessler, University City, Mo. Application october s0, 1946,ser'ia1. No. 706,550

6 Claims. (ci. asfixia) This invention relates generally to guide means for tearing paper, and more specifically to such a device which is adapted for use in aiding in the operation of tearing bank checks from pads or books of bank checks so that each of said checks will have displayed on its face a printed amount in dollars which limits the amount payable on the check, the predominant object of the invention being to provide a check tearing guide which includes a base member and a member movably supported by said base member for adjustment with respect thereto s as to provide the guide with an adjustable check tearing edge along which checks may be torn for the purpose mentioned above.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved check tearing guide of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective View of a portion of the check tearing guide illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a face view of a bank check, including the stub thereof, of the type with which the improved check tearing` guide is adapted for use.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing the improved check tearing guide of the present invention associated with a book of bank checks of the type illustrated in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is e, section through the improved check tearing guide of the present invention on the line 6 6 OfFig. 4.

Fig. '7 is a section through the improved check tearing guide of the present invention on line 'l-l of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary face view of a bank check showing same as it appears after having been torn from a book or pad of checks With the aid of the improved check tearing guide' of the present invention.

In the drawing, wherein is shown merely for purposes of illustration, one embodiment of the invention, A designates the improved check tearing guide generally. The guide A includes a base member I which preferably, though not necessarily, is in the form of a spring clip, said base other material, Which is inherently resilient and has a forward leg la, a, rear, slightly curved leg Ib, and a bridge portion Ic which joins the front and rear legs of the base member at corresponde ing ends thereof. At the distal end of the front leg Ia of the base member I at which the bridge portion Ic is located, said front leg la is provided with a curved lip portion 2 which performs ,a function to be hereinafter explained. y

..45 member being formed from a strip of metal, or

`the edge portion 3c thereof.

f member.

Supported by the base member I for slidable movement with respect thereto is a shiftable member3., The shiftable member 3 is of the approximate length of the front leg la of the base member, I and it is shaped as is shown in Fig. 4;

, that is to say, the upper portion of said shiftable after set forth. As is shown clearly in the drawing, the shiftable member 3 is substantially Wider than is the front leg la of the base member I, and

Asaid shiftable member is provided With a recess 5as isshown to good advantage in Fig. 7, said recess-being provided at one side thereof with a shoulder 6 which extends, as does the recess 5, from the lower edge of the shiftable member to The front leg Ia of the base member I is disposed in the recess 5 of the shiftable member 3 with the shoulder B of the shiftable member in sliding contact with an edgefof said front leg of said base member,

the bottom face of the front leg Ia of the base member I and the bottom face of the outwardly yextended portion 3 of the shiftable member being flush (Fig. 7). y

The front leg la of the base member I has L`formed therein an elongated slot 1, and the' shiftable member 3 is provided with a similar elonshiftable member, while the rivet I0 is extended through the slot 8 and through a circular opening formed through the front leg of the base It will be noted by referring to Figs. 6 and 7 that the rivets 9 and I0 are provided With shoulders Which prevent said rivets from moving longitudinally of their axes with respect to the ffront leg la of the base melnberand the shiftable member 3. 9 `and I0 are countersunk, the inner head of the Also, the inner heads of said rivets rivet 9 being countersunk in the slot 1, as is 'shown inFig. 6, While the inner head of the rivet I0 is countersunk in the circular opening of the pressure which Will retain the shiftable member 3 in positions relative to the base memberV I to which it is adjusted, the lip 2 of the base member bearing resiliently against the lower face of the shiftable member 3 and the lip 4 of the shiftable member bearing resiliently against the outer face of the front leg Ia of the base member I.

The particular type of bank check with which the improved check tearing guide of the present invention is intended for use is shown in Figs. 3 and 8, said check comprising a conventional check blank B, a stub C which is bound in a pad of checks or in a check book in the usual manner, and a portion D which is interposed between the check blank B and the stub C, there being no perforations between the stub C and the portion D as is ordinarily true of the bank cheeks bound in a pad or in a check book. The portion D of the check blank arrangement shown in Fig. 3 has printed, or otherwise displayed thereon, columns of gures E which indicate amounts in dollars, these figures extending from one dollar to one hundred thousand dollars. The purpose of these iigures is to establish a maximum amount payable on a check, the amount payable on the check never being greater than the largestA amount displayed at the left-hand edge of the check. In other words, if a check is drawn in the amount of $342.78, as in the example illustrated in Fig. 8, the check will .be torn from the pad of checks or check book in the manner shown in Fig. 8, where the largest amount displayed at the left-hand edge of the check is 3C5, or, in other Words, three hundred fty dollars.

In the use` of the check tearing guide of the present invention with a pad or book of checks of the type shown in Fig. 3, the guide is clipped to the portions D of Ithe checks, as is shown in Fig. 5, all or some of said check portions being interposed between the rear leg Ib and the front leg la of the base member I of the guide. Because of such attachment of the guide A to the pad or book of checks, it is always present for use and the danger of loss of the guide is greatly minimized. Also, because the guide A is clipped to the portions D of the checks it does not interfere with the writing of the checks or the stubs thereof.

When a check has been written the guide A is shifted to bring the edge I I of the front leg Ia of the base member of said guide to a position immediately to the left of the Vertical row of figures appearing on the portion D of the check in which is included the figure next higher than the amount for which the check is drawn. The shiftable member 3 of the guide A is then adjusted relative to the base member I to bring the edge portion 3c of said shiftable member to a position immediately beneath the proper figure in the selected row of figures, and the check is torn from the pad or book of checks along the edge Il of the front leg of the base member I of the guide A and along the edges 3c and I2 0f the shiftable member of said guide, The result Will be the provision of a check having an offset left-hand edge, as shown in Fig. 8, Whose face value cannot be materially raised.

By referring to Fig. 3 of the drawing it will be noted that the word void appears at the bottom of the left-hand column of the columns of figures E. If this word appears on a check which is offered for payment or deposit the check is rendered Void, as it indicates that the check has not been properly torn from its stub so that it indicates a limit of the amount payable on the check.

I claim:

1. A check tearing guide comprising a base member, a shiftable member supported by said base member for movement with respect thereto, means for'attaching said shiftable member to said base member for adjustment with respect thereto so as to provide said check tearing guide with adjustable check tearing edge portions on said base member and said shiftable member along lwhich a check may be torn, and resilient lips on said shiftable member and said base member for establishing spring pressure between said members.

2. A check tearing guide comprising a base member in the form of a spring clip, a shiftable member supported by said base member for movement with respect thereto, and means for attaching said shiftable member to said base member for adjustment With respect thereto so as to provide said check tearing guide with adjustable check tearing edge portions on said base member and said shiftable member along which a check may be torn, said attaching means comprising a rivet supported by said base member which is extended through a slot formed in said shiftable member.

3. A check tearing guide comprising a base member in the form of a spring clip, a shiftable member supported by said base member for movement with respect thereto, and means for attaching said shiftable member to said base member for adjustment with respect thereto so as to provide said check tearing guide with adjustable check tearing edge portions on said :base member and said shiftable member along which a check may be torn, said attaching means comprising a rivet supported by said base member which is extended through a slot formed in said shiftable member and a rivet supported by said shiftable member which is extended through a slot formed in said base member. y

4. A check tearing guide comprising a base member in the form of a spring clip, a shiftable member supported by said base member for movement with respect thereto, means for attaching said shiftable member to said base 'member for adjustment with respect thereto so as to provide said check tearing guide with adjustable check tearing edge portions on said base member and said shiftable member along which a check may be torn, said attaching means comprising a rivet supported by said base member which is extended through a slot formed in said shiftable member and a rivet supported by said shiftable member which is extended through a slot formed in said base member, and resilient means for establishing spring pressure between said shitable member and said base member.

5. A check tearing guide comprising a base member in the form of a spring clip, a shiftable member supported by said base member for movement with respect thereto, means for attaching said shiftable member to said base member for adjustment with respect thereto so as to provide said check tearing guide with adjustable check tearing edge portions on said base member and said shiftable member along which a check may be torn, said attaching means comprising a rivet supported by said base member which is extended through a slot formed in said shiftable member and a rivet supported by said shitable member which is extended through a slot formed in said base member, and resilient lips on said shiftable member and said base member for establishing spring pressure between said members.

6. A check tearing guide comprising a base member in the form of a spring clip, a shiftable member supported by said base member for movement with respect thereto, means for attaching said shiftable member to said base member for adjustment with respect thereto so as to provide said check tearing guide with adjustable check tearing edge portions on said base member and said shiftable member along which a check may be torn, said attaching means comprising a rivet supported by said base member which is extended through a slot formed in said shiftable member and a rivet supported by said shiftable member which is extended through a slot formed in said base member, and resilient lips on said shiftable member and said base member for establishing REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 864,340 Seibert Aug. 27, 1907 1,069,534 Deason Aug. 5, 1913 1,315,404 Potter Sept. 9, 1919 1,390,620 Jones Sept. 13, 1921 1,727,120 Williams Sept. 3, 1929 

